confidence in the police

Having a police force which has the confidence of the public is an essential thing. Finland seems to enjoy such a situation.

The situation is quite the reverse in Australia where any number of royal commissions into the corruption and behavior of the Police is something which would seem more in place in under developed countries. Even after some century of cleanups the situation still requires attention. The latest step in this direction in Queensland>may make a difference ... but I wouldn't be counting on it restoring much of the public confidence in the Police here.

no longer an ex-pat

Well now this blog will have to take a turn for a while; a turn towards commentary from outside and reflection on what I saw. I'm now no longer in Finland and instead enjoying sunny days, nights with skies filled with stars, mountains and oceans.

:-)

rintamamiestalo

The classic countryside house seems to be the rintamamiestalo ... though its normally quite the boring cube.



however some Finns get creative with theirs. This owner has added a veranda to transform it into something which is almost European at first glance



cunning and creative

communication style II

Viivi and Wagner is a classic Finnish cartoon strip (at least here in Finland). I recently was given this one by my wife (who knows how I feel about the way the stereotypical Finn communicates).

I loved it, so I've added a translation to the scene so you can get the point better :-)


Keeping in mind that dumb originally means "unable to speak" ... Ahhh ... I love Wagner

Kouvola gets snow

Well in a strange quirk of nature Kouvola (where I live) has more snow than any other part of Finland.

This is pretty unusual, and as far as I can tell this is the first time in recorded weather history.

Normally there is more snow in Lapland or on the Eastern Border near Ilomantsi.

Either way I'm not complaining (although the people who do the snow clearing sure are) as the local forest around my home is filled with winter wonderland scenery like this poor little Spurce saping which is totally smothered in snow.

My ski track is in better condition that it ever has been

and the whole place looks great


wow

drunks: its a lifestyle not an abberation

I was just getting out of my car in our residence carpark yesterday when a fellow who was walking in my direction as I pulled up walked up to me as I got out of the car and spoke something to me.

I only recognised "keskusta" and said "I'm sorry mate, I don't speak Finnish well yet".

He double takked and said in English back to me "Oh, don't worry, neither can I"

Turns out he'd been drinking (as if that wasn't clear from the smell) and wanted to get into the center to get some more booze (it was after lunch by now). So he asked me "can you please drive me into town, its cold and I don't have any gloves or a pipo" (which he didn't). I could understand the problem as being -18°C with a breeze too, his ears must have been cold.

I thought about it and thought "what the hell" and said I'd take him. No point in having him hospitalized for exposure too ... his coat wasn't real warm looking.

When we got there he went to shake my hand and so I reached over to shake his hand but then:

beginSlowMotionExperience

he turned my hand over and kissed the back of my hand while saying how wonderful and kind I was....

endSlowMotionExperience

oh
my
god

what do you say about this?

I thanked him and said it wasn't really necessary, and as he got out of the car he reached into his coat and pulled out his last can of beer, asking me "would I like to take a drink"

as we were holding up traffic I said "no thanks" and off I went.

The home of Santa

For reasons best known to the Coca Cola company a false myth has been propagated that Santa comes from the north pole. Anyone from these polar regions knows this to be completely laughable as there would be nothing for the Reindeer to eat for starters.

Fortunately people like me who live here and think to write blogs in English language can help those south of the arctic circle to know where Santa really comes from

Rare Exports Inc. from Woodpecker Film on Vimeo.

and part two, the safety instructions.



and thanks JP for bringing this rare knowledge to me :-)